It's been a slow news week so while we're all waiting for Obsidian to launch the Project Eternity backer portal, here's a little something for you to bitch about discuss. Mansion Lord is an amusing concept currently on Kickstarter that aims to merge turn- and grid-based RPG (with character classes, stats, etc.), murder mystery, and a business management sim. It also includes class switching mechanics (!) which is the real reason why I'm posting about it at all :wizardry:.

Unfortunately it comes with "retro" pixel graphics that every other indie game seems to use these days. But oh well. I'll let the project speak for itself:

Mansion Lord combines a murder mystery business sim with tile-based world building and turn-based RPG combat. Build your mansion tile-by-tile, invite unscrupulous aristocrats to dinner, and, with the aid of your hired detectives, capture them for bounties after they slay the other guests. You can level up your detectives, equip them with hundreds of different weapons and accessories, and teach them a variety of skills. All in the name of profit!

Features

BUILDING SYSTEM: Create your mansion one piece at a time using a grid-based tile system. Place each individual object to gain vital room bonuses to attract more guests - and for your personal sense of interior decoration, of course!

TACTICAL TURN-BASED COMBAT: Claim bounty money by defeating the killers using a grid-based combat system. Use a variety of a special skills, joint combo attacks and maneuvering (side attacks and back attacks do matter!) to take them down.

SUSPECT DATABASE SYSTEM: Each killer has a unique set of likes and dislikes - tailor your rooms to suit their preferences to lure them to your mansion! Try to draw in the most elusive suspects to complete your "collection."

RPG CHARACTER UPGRADING: Improve your stable of hired detectives by earning XP, updating their equipment, teaching them new skills, increasing their happiness with gifts, and even building them their own bedroom!

ENDLESS ROGUELIKE ENCOUNTERS: If you want to take a break from management for some old-fashioned dungeon diving, try sending your detectives into the depths of the abandoned basement levels to clear out the ghouls below. The deeper you go, the bigger the dangers (and the rewards, of course)!

SOCIAL BOND SYSTEM: Detectives with strong relationships have special abilities in combat. Strengthen their social bonds by sending them out on "dates" every now and then. Who knows what might happen when their relationship maxes out?

100% CHIPTUNE SOUNDTRACK: If it doesn't chirp, bleep, or bloop, you won't hear it in our music.

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The latest KS update describes the game's character classes in more detail. Here's a snippet:

Every person in your employ belongs to a particular class. A character's class determines their distribution of stats and access to specific passive abilities. In the screenshot below, you can see that Dr. Olive is currently a level 15 Surgeon, which affords him access to the Bedside Manner and Precision Cuts abilities.

Once a character reaches level 20 in their current class, they may opt to switch to a new class while keeping any abilities they learned. A character can only remember up to 4 abilities at any given time.

Also, some classes are gender-locked. For example, a male character could never switch to the female-only Siren class shown below.

Finally, one last thing to keep in mind is that well-trained people tend to demand high salaries - so be prepared for that when they come knocking for a raise!​